


For Life and Love: The Niam Chronicles

by JamieJam93



Category: Niall Horan/Liam Payne - Fandom, One Direction, louis tomlinson/harry styles - Fandom
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-22
Updated: 2015-07-22
Packaged: 2018-04-10 15:25:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4397156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamieJam93/pseuds/JamieJam93
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>(I feel weird saying this was inspired by one of my other fics, but I figured that was an easy way to add a link if anyone needs it..so...Anyway...)</p>
<p>As I said in the last chapter of the fic, a wonderful anon asked me if I would write a Niam spin-off based off of their characters in For Life and Love (Larry fic.) I liked the idea because I thought it might be interesting to write more from Liam/Louis's side since the other fic was mainly Harry/Niall, so here it is! </p>
<p>I tried to make it so you didn't have to read FLAL first, but I'm not sure how entertaining it will be if you don't and this contains spoilers. But, by all means give it a try, if you wish!</p>
    </blockquote>





	For Life and Love: The Niam Chronicles

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [For Life and Love](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3902338) by [JamieJam93](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamieJam93/pseuds/JamieJam93). 



> (I feel weird saying this was inspired by one of my other fics, but I figured that was an easy way to add a link if anyone needs it..so...Anyway...)
> 
> As I said in the last chapter of the fic, a wonderful anon asked me if I would write a Niam spin-off based off of their characters in For Life and Love (Larry fic.) I liked the idea because I thought it might be interesting to write more from Liam/Louis's side since the other fic was mainly Harry/Niall, so here it is! 
> 
> I tried to make it so you didn't have to read FLAL first, but I'm not sure how entertaining it will be if you don't and this contains spoilers. But, by all means give it a try, if you wish!

            Liam wasn’t looking for anyone when Niall walked into his life with no respect for the fact that, just that day, Liam had made a pact to himself that he was just going to be single for a while. He’d not had much luck in the ‘love’ department, and, to be honest, it was kind of exhausting, so he was done until he found someone who he just clicked with. Louis had told him that if it was meant to be, he would just know. Liam wasn’t sure how correct that was, but his way of forced conversation and meaningless sex wasn’t working out, so he was willing to take a different approach by not doing anything.

            (Liam was going to die alone, he was sure of it, but he was staring to come to terms with it. He was. Really.)

***

            The night was dragging on. He’d only been at work a couple hours, but it felt like it should be time to close up and go home and climb in bed with a bottle of whiskey. It wasn’t, though, so he kept the smile on his face as he jealously served alcohol to everyone but himself (and why could the strippers drink on the job but not him?)

            Liam wasn’t as pathetic as he felt at the moment, honestly.

            From the corner of his eye, he saw three men approaching the bar and hurried to finish clearing spots for them. Many of their guests were not too keen on waiting.

            “Hello!” one of them greeted cheerfully, plopping himself into the end seat as the two others took the chairs that were next in line beside him.

            “Hi!” Liam greeted with a smile as he looked up to observe the newcomers. His smile faltered a bit. The higher powers were testing him, he was sure of it, as they had just sent the male version of Charlie’s fucking Angels to him. Men like that didn’t go to this strip club. Sure, there were some attractive guys that visited, but most were hot messes, coming dressed like they were the strippers themselves. Liam didn’t have a problem with it, because why would he, but he was never tempted by them. Eccentric was fun, but he usually went for the reserved kind of guy that he could take home to mom if they ever got passed the ‘casual sex’ stage which, so far, they never did.

            Okay, so ‘reserved’ didn’t describe every member of the group. The one on the far left, the one who had greeted him, was dressed with a tiara and ‘bride-to-be’ sash (and was clearly already a bit intoxicated) but he seemed pleasant so far. The one on the far right, a dark haired lad with thick curls and a ‘help me’ expression on his face could definitely be described as reserved, though perhaps a bit too much so, as he looked positively tortured at being in such a place. The middle one though…Liam liked him. He was small and blonde, with bright blue eyes and an even brighter demeanor.

Alright, maybe Liam was analyzing them a bit too much, as he’d just come into contact with them twenty seconds ago, but he was a bartender. It came with the territory. Besides, he was good at reading people. Just not people he dated.

Mentally shaking himself, Liam realized that he had a job to do and looked away from the blonde, who he felt he’d stared at for a bit too long. Great. Now he probably thought he was a creep.

            “Can I get you all something to drink?” Liam asked, keeping his tone light.

            “Oh, I’m still thinking,” the ‘bride to be’ said, concentrating on the bottles behind Liam. “You go first, Niall.”

            Niall was, apparently, the blonde. Liam liked the name. It went well with his own…

            _No, stop that right now_ , he silently scolded himself.

            “Oh, um…uh…what do you make?” Niall asked. Liam could make most things, but he didn’t want to sound like he was bragging, so he listed his most popular drinks. Niall listened intently at first, but then seemed to space out because why wouldn’t he when Liam was rambling? The bartender trailed off, hoping his face didn’t look as red as it felt.

            It took a moment for Niall to realize that Liam had finally shut himself up, then he put in his order and Liam turned to begin mixing it together, sighing outwardly at himself. What was wrong with him? He wasn’t usually this terribly awkward, even when chatting up indecently attractive strangers.

            “Here you go! I hope you like it,” Liam said once he’d finished the drink and turned back to the group, setting the glass in front of the blonde nervously. He didn’t quite know why he was nervous. He was a good bartender, he knew that, and it wasn’t anything personal if Niall didn’t like this particular drink. It felt personal still, though.

            “I’m sure it’s amazing,” Niall assured him, and Liam smiled. Niall was nice. That was something he didn’t come across too often either.

            From underneath the bar, Liam heard the first signs of a baby fussing and, glancing at his watch, saw that it was about time for Lily’s first feeding of the night. It was best to get it taken care of before she started screaming because, though the regulars had grown accustomed to the fact that there was a baby in the club some nights, they didn’t take too kindly to hearing her.

            “Oh, give me one moment, please,” he said to the other two. He thought the one on the left replied, but couldn’t hear well as he leaned down to take the baby from her car seat and bounce her on one hip to stop the fussing until he got the bottle prepared. The newest guests all stared, mouths dropped open, and Liam remembered nervously that they were _not_ regulars and probably not expecting there to be an infant hidden underneath the bar of a strip club.

            “You have a baby at a strip club?!” the curly haired one asked, confirming Liam’s suspicions.

            “Yep,” he answered, hoping he didn’t sound nervous. “This is Lily. She’s the sister of one of the entertainers.”

            “That doesn’t make it any better.”

            “I know.”

            The three remained shocked, but eventually closed their gaping mouths and went back to polite conversation with Liam. Well, two of them did. The more uptight one just sat there looking angry and miserable.

            Eventually, the one wearing the tiara, Zayn, Liam had learned, faded out of the conversation to watch the stage, so it was just Liam and Niall, which was fine. Liam was still rambling a bit, but so was Niall, and the more they went on, the more comfortable Liam became, even if he did have a slightly odd feeling in his chest and stomach too.

            Soon, their conversation was cut off by the background noise growing; cheers and whistles coming from various watchers by the stage. Liam didn’t have to have heard the announcer to know it was Louis coming onto the stage.

            “He must be a popular one,” Zayn commented; the first time he’d spoken for a few minutes.

            “Yeah, he’s one of the regulars’ favorites,” Liam told him.

            “Why?” Niall piped up.

            “He’s really good at what he does, for one, and he’s got a nice body _and_ face. Plus, this place hasn’t totally killed his soul yet.”

            Liam hoped it never would.

            “Are you in love with him?” Zayn asked. Liam laughed. Zayn was a bit more intoxicated than when he’d come in, clearly, because that was ridiculous.

            “No,” Liam answered. “I mean, he’s definitely attractive, but not really my type.”

            Looking at Niall, he added,

            “I like blondes.”

            _What? Oi. Liam, you’re an idiot_ , the bartender thought to himself, but Niall smiled, so maybe it wasn’t a completely bad thing. Liam’s heart skipped a beat.

            Zayn soon took his friends away to go to the stage and Liam laughed a little to himself. _Oh, Louis, how do you do it?_

            Knowing he had been mildly ignoring the other patrons, Liam went to check on the guys and a couple ladies who were still choosing to sit at the bar. Harry, the last of the three angel trio, returned after only a couple minutes, scowl on his face as he ordered a beer before Liam even had the chance to ask if he wanted anything else.

            “Are you straight?” Liam asked as he slid a bottle to the man.

            “Why do you want to know?” Harry retorted and, seriously, what was this guy’s problem?

            “Because usually even straight guys look like they’re having more fun than you,” Liam replied anyway.

            “I just don’t particularly like watching live porn,” Harry said, and Liam laughed. Why was this whole group just so ridiculous? (Except Niall, who was perfect.)

            “Is your blonde friend straight?” Liam asked, giving up on getting an answer to his first question.

“Are you serious?” Harry asked. Oh shit. Maybe the situation was worse than he thought. Maybe Harry was, in fact, straight and, worse, a homophobe. Why he would have a clearly homosexual friend (Zayn) and let himself be dragged to a gay strip club if he was a homophobe, Liam didn’t know, but the rest of his behavior made sense.

            Swallowing nervously, Liam nodded, silently begging Harry to not beat him up in the parking lot for being interested in his friend.

            It seemed to take Harry forever to answer.

            “Definitely not,” he said. “Did you not see the heart eyes he was giving you?”

            Letting out a small breath of relief, both for being wrong about Harry and because Niall was maybe interested, Liam beamed. Harry’s mouth twitched, but he looked down to focus on his beer.

            Once Louis left the stage, Niall and Zayn returned to their friend, Zayn looking either very drunk or very pleased. Maybe both.

            “So is this a special occasion or are you just out having fun?” Liam asked, and then internally smacked himself. What a dumb question, with Zayn dressed up in bachelorette party things.

            “This guy is getting married,” Niall explained, being kind enough to not make it sound like Liam was completely stupid.

            “Congratulations!” Liam exclaimed, going along with it.

            “Thank you,” Zayn said with a sincere smile.

            “Would you like a lap dance?” Liam asked.

            “Thank you for that offer, Liam, and it sounds lovely, but I think Niall might get jealous if you give me a lap dance and not him.”

            Liam’s cheeks had to have changed color then, as he gaped at Zayn for a moment and then stammered out, “I…I didn’t mean from me. I meant from one of the entertainers.”

            Liam made a mental note to cut Zayn off soon, except that meant they would all probably leave, so scratch that. He quickly erased that note from existence.

            Zayn wanted his lap dance to be from Louis, which wasn’t a surprise at all, but since they had a little while to wait before Louis came back on, he kept himself entertained by getting drunker. Liam felt bad for sacrificing the guy’s liver so he could talk to his friend, but it seemed necessary.

            By the time Louis was ready to give Zayn his lap dance, Zayn was spectacularly trashed, and both Niall and Louis had to help him onto the chair that had been placed onstage for him. Harry didn’t bother to join them that time and Liam offered to give him a couple of shots on the house to loosen him up a bit, but Harry refused. He was apparently okay with being a killjoy.  

            Niall led Zayn back to the bar once Louis was done with him and had to grab onto the drunk man’s shirt to prevent him from falling sideways off his stool as he hopped happily onto it. Liam laughed a little and Niall shot him another pretty smile.

            Instead of going backstage after his set that time, Louis joined the group, squeezing between Niall and Zayn and radiating of both elegance and sex appeal. Louis was Liam’s best friend, and Liam loved him, but also kind of hated him sometimes too. Okay, not really, but Louis had inadvertently taken Liam’s love interest from him on more than one occasion (until they found out Louis was, at the time, taken, and they tried to come back to Liam which, no; he had some standards), so Liam distracted himself, not wanting to see yet if that was going to happen again with Niall. The three got on some conversation about Louis’s butt, which Liam only half listened to, keeping his attention away until Harry’s voice made him look up, suddenly nervous.

            “Oh my god,” Harry had said, and Liam saw Louis’s eyes go to him; Louis staring for a moment in appreciation before moving to squeeze between Niall and Harry, body facing the latter, apparently not receiving the ESP signals Liam was trying to send him to tell him to stop.

            “What are you so uptight about?” Louis asked, his hip jutted out to make him look even curvier as he leaned against the bar and stared at Harry, who said nothing, just looked Louis up and down, not approvingly.

            “Oh, I see,” Louis continued, and gave Harry another moment or two to reply before saying, “You’re just not going to say a word to me, are you?”

            “What would you like me to say?” Harry asked.

            “Maybe hi and a name…?”

            “Hi,” was all Harry said. The tension was suffocating.

            “Right. Okay,” Louis said after letting out a very non-amused laugh. He came around the bar then, putting on his long, trench-coat type jacket before picking up his baby sister.

            “That’s your sister then,” Harry commented.

            “Yes,” Louis replied simply. Apparently, he was done playing nice.

            “Why do you bring your sister to the strip club?” Harry continued. Liam wanted to smack him.

            “I’m not telling you my whole life story when I don’t even know your name,” Louis retorted.

            “Fair enough, though I don’t think that question requires a whole life story in response.”

            Little did he know, it did, kind of, but instead of saying so, Louis turned on his heel and walked backstage, the baby still in his arms. It took a special kind of ass hole to get this side of Louis and Liam shifted awkwardly. For a good few moments, no one said a word.

            “I’m going to the bathroom,” Harry finally spoke, hopping off his stool and heading off without waiting for a reply.

            “I need another drink,” Zayn said, and he didn’t, really, but Liam wasn’t going to tell him that.

            “Yeah, me too,” Niall agreed.

            “Any special requests?” Liam asked.

            “Whatever you want to make. I trust you,” Niall told him, small smile on his face as some of the tension started to fade. Liam smiled too and mixed the guys one of his personal favorites (something light because he was starting to worry about Zayn’s insides just a little.)

            “That’s delicious,” Niall complimented after taking his first sip. Liam warmed.

            “Thank you.”

            “Mhm. I’m sorry about my mate, by the way. He has lost his social etiquette over time.”

            “It’s alright,” Liam said, because it wasn’t completely Niall’s fault if he was friends with a dick head. “I’m sure the baby in the strip club didn’t help matters,” he added lightly. Niall laughed.

            “It is quite a strange situation, no offense.”

            “None taken. I know it’s probably not right, but there isn’t much other choice.”

            “The parents don’t care?” Niall questioned, sounding interested, but not judgmental.

            “They’re not alive,” Liam answered. “Well, the dad is, but he’s missing in action; so much so that Louis has custody of Lily now, and his other sister.’

            “The fuck,” Niall said, looking deeply shocked by that news. “That’s terrible.”

            “He’s dealing,” Liam said with a shrug. “Maybe not perfectly, but what can you expect?”

            “I’m going to talk to Harry,” Niall said, hopping down from his chair.

            “No, hey, it’s alright,” Liam said, afraid that if they made Harry, the designated driver, mad, that he would make them leave.

            “It’s not,” Niall said and then disappeared around the corner to the restrooms. Liam sighed and turned his focus to Zayn, who was staring at him intently.

            “Are you okay?” Liam asked.

            “Niall wants you,” Zayn said.

            “Oh,” Liam said, blushing again.

            “Yeah. Okay, I’m glad I got that off my chest, now I’m going to go to sleep on your bar, okay, Lionel?”

            “Okay, Zayn.”

            Liam didn’t know exactly what Niall said to Harry, but he did keep all comments to himself as Louis dropped Lily back off to Liam and went to the stage for his final performance of the night. He even joined the conversation occasionally while Zayn did, in fact, fall asleep on the bar. Harry was being very pleasant, and so Liam didn’t think he meant anything by it when Louis came offstage and ordered a shot and Harry asked if he drank on the job. It was an innocent question, probably, but Louis didn’t see it that way and slammed his empty glass down on the bar so hard that Liam jumped and Zayn snorted, though couldn’t bring himself to wake fully.

            “ _You_ try to bear your body to a bunch of horny strangers while completely sober,” he snapped, and Harry couldn’t quite hide his surprise.

            “No, I didn’t mean…I just meant…”

            Louis interrupted.

            “You aren’t better than me, Curly,” he said before storming backstage. The tension returned, thicker than before.

            “I’m so sorry,” Liam said, deciding it was his turn to apologize for his friend. “He gets like this at the end of the night sometimes…”

            “It’s fine,” Harry said, tone conveying otherwise, but at least he was trying.

            “We really should get Zayn home though,” Niall spoke, and Liam fought to hide his disappointment. _Thanks, Louis._

            “Okay,” Liam said, though Niall probably hadn’t been talking to him. “I hope you had fun.”

            “I had a great time,” Niall told him. “And I really enjoyed talking to you.”

            Liam smiled. Niall was so polite.

            “Do you think we could talk some more?” Niall asked. _Oh_. Liam’s grin widened even though he suddenly felt a bit light-headed.

            “Yeah. Um, I mean, that would be nice. Fine.”

            _Smooth, Liam_.

            Despite his continued awkwardness, Niall smiled as Liam handed over a slip of paper with his phone number on it, their hands brushing as they exchanged it.

            “Great,” Niall said. “I’ll be in touch.”

***

            Once the place was finally closed and Liam had the bar area all cleaned up, he threw Lily’s diaper bag over his shoulder and picked up the car seat that held the sleeping baby before going backstage to retrieve Louis, who was asleep on one of the sofas.

            “Lou,” Liam said, shaking the guy’s shoulder a bit. One eye popped open and a small smile touched Louis’s lips as he rubbed his eyes, asking in a hoarse voice,

            “Hey, Killer, did you get blondie’s number?”

            “His name is Niall and no, but I gave him mine.”

            “That’s my boy,” Louis said approvingly. He had yet to sit up.

            “Not like he’ll call,” Liam said with a shrug, pretending the thought didn’t bother him.

            “Yes he will,” Louis disagreed. “He was very into you.”

            “He was drunk.”

            “Not much.”

            “Whatever. Can you get up, please? I want to go home. I feel a bit sick.”

            Louis positively beamed then, and Liam didn’t know why his illness was so amusing so he gave a questioning eyebrow raise.

            “You have butterflies!” Louis announced, finally sitting up and stretching his arms out in front of him. It was a start, at least.

            “I don’t,” Liam argued. “I don’t get butterflies.”

            “That’s because you’ve never met the right person! You two had the ‘click,’ I can tell!”

            “Whatever,” Liam said again. “Are you coming?”

            Louis stood and began following Liam out of the club, but he wasn’t done yet.

            “My little Leemo is in love!”

            “I am not in love.”

            “Yes you are!”

            “Shut up. How are you?”

            “What do you mean? I’m fine.”

            “I just mean, you know, because of his friend.”

            “Ah. He’s an arse. He’s cute, but an arse, as the cute ones always are. Except you, of course, and Blondie!”

            “Niall.”

            “Same person.”

            Liam didn’t reward that with a comment.

            “I can’t believe you’re getting married,” Louis spoke from Liam’s passenger seat as the other man buckled Lily in.

            “What?” he asked. Maybe Louis wasn’t quite awake yet.

            “Find out his last name. I need to see whose name you should take,” Louis said.

            “It’s  Horan,” Liam said as he climbed into the driver’s seat. “I saw it on his card.”

            “Wow, okay, creeper,” Louis replied. Liam frowned, but then Louis patted his cheek gently.

            “Teasing, love. Now drive.”

***

            Liam couldn’t sleep that night, as it was hard to relax when he kept checking his phone, even though he knew Niall wouldn’t call or text that soon. He probably wouldn’t at all.

            It was then that Liam decided he didn’t like these so called butterflies. That wasn’t even an appropriate name, he thought, because he didn’t think a butterfly’s wings would hurt so much.

            Of course, supposedly, they could create a tsunami with one flap of said wings, so maybe it was a perfect name.

            Okay, maybe Liam really was pathetic.

***

            _Did he call yet?_ _=]_ Louis sent a text to Liam the next afternoon.

            _No_ , Liam replied bitterly, _and he’s not going to_

            _He probably just doesn’t want to seem desperate. Give it time!_

            Liam grumbled to himself and locked his phone without replying and then, finally, got up for a shower because maybe he was pathetic, but not so much as to let his personal hygiene go over a silly guy, thank you.

            Despite what he told Louis about Niall not calling, he kept his phone on the bathroom counter, the ringer on high, just in case.

            Liam almost didn’t believe it when the phone actually started ringing, convinced he was hearing it simply because he wanted to. It didn’t stop, though, because it was _really_ , truly ringing, and it was the generic tone too, meaning whoever was calling hadn’t been assigned with a ringtone and, therefore, wasn’t in his contacts.

            In his rush to answer the phone in time, Liam may have fallen out of the shower, but there was no way Niall would know that over the phone…right?

            “Hello?” Liam answered, somewhat breathlessly. Oh well. If asked, he would make up some lie about being on a run or something. Guys liked fitness, right?

            “Hello!” a cheery Irish voice greeted from the other end of the line.

            “Niall?” Liam asked, hoping he didn’t sound too eager.

            “Yep! How are you today, Liam?”

            Liam smiled, that strange feeling suddenly back in his chest and stomach. Maybe he should see a doctor.

            “I’m fine,” he answered the other man. “How are you?”

            “Better now that I’m talking to you.”

            A pause, then,

            “Oh god, was that too cheesy?”

            “It was a bit cheesy,” Liam said with a laugh, “but not too much so.”

            “Good. Are you busy?”

            “No, not really.”

            Just standing in the middle of the bathroom naked and dripping water everywhere. Liam wrapped a towel around his middle and sat down on the closed toilet lid as Niall continued talking.

            “Cool. So, Liam, you weren’t drinking on the job or anything last night, were you?”

            “No….Why?”

            “I just wanted to make sure it was _you_ that gave me your number and not just one of your delicious mixed drinks.”

            “No, it was me,” Liam assured the other after another small laugh. “Um…was it you who, um, kind of, maybe, wanted it?”

            “No, it was me who really, _really_ wanted it.”

            Liam smiled an embarrassingly large smile.

            “Well, good,” he said lamely. “I’m glad.”

            “I’m glad you’re glad. I did really enjoy talking to you last night. Sorry we left when we did, but I was afraid Zayn was going to lose it all over your bar and that is something you didn’t need.”

            “How is he?”

            “Very hungover, but he’ll live.”

            “I hope it was worth it.”

            “It was. But enough about him. Tell me about you.”

            “Me?”

            “Yes. I need some ideas for when I take you on our date.”

            Liam was buzzing.

            “Date?” he still asked, making sure he was hearing correctly.

            “Yeah. A date. I’m assuming you have experience? Ah, who am I kidding? Of course you have, have you seen you?”

            If Niall could make Liam blush this hard over the phone, he suddenly wasn’t quite sure that a date was a good idea, not that he would ever voice that opinion.

            “We won’t go there,” he said instead.

            “You’re right. Bad idea. They were all mistakes before me anyways.”

            That was the third laugh Niall got out of Liam in just about four minutes. He was good.

            “You’re a bit conceited, aren’t you?” Liam asked teasingly.

            “If I don’t love myself, who will?”

            “Awww!”

            It was Niall’s turn to laugh then.

            “I know, I know. So, bartender, go on; tell me. What should we do for our date?”

            “I dunno…”

            Excited, nervous energy filled Liam at another mention of a date and he ran a hand through his hair, being forced upon the realization that he hadn’t finished washing the shampoo out. Lovely. Oh well.

            “Do you like food?” Niall asked.

            “Of course,” Liam replied. “Who doesn’t like food?”

            “I mean, you’re pretty buff, so I wanted to verify that you ingested something besides protein shakes.”

            “I eat actual food,” Liam said with yet another laugh because, honestly, he wasn’t that buff. Niall gave a chuckle as well.

            “So we’re good for dinner then?”

            “Yeah, sounds good.”

            _Sounds great_.

            “When?” he added.

            “Is tonight too soon?”

            “It’s not, but, unfortunately, I work tonight. We can still go early if you want.”

            “We can, but I’d rather do it when I can keep you around longer. Tomorrow?”

            “I have plans with my friend tomorrow,” Liam said, anxiety rising. “I would cancel, but it’s Louis and I know he wouldn’t care, it’s just he actually got a sitter to go out and do something, which doesn’t happen often, so I’d feel bad. I’m sorry…”

            “No apologies necessary. You are a wanted man.”

            “Trust me, that’s not it.”

            “Hey…if you and Louis wouldn’t mind just _slightly_ changing your plans tomorrow…want to make it a double date?”

            “I don’t know if there’s anyone else. Most of our friends are still at college. Or did you have someone in mind?”

            “I can ask Zayn,” Niall said. “I mean, he’s getting married, so it wouldn’t be a _date_ date for them, but they got along pretty well last night, right? I think it would work.”

            “Yeah. I think so too,” Liam agreed, feeling excited again.

            “Great. I’ll call Zayn and see if he’s up for it and then call you back, alright?”

            “Okay.”

            “Great. Talk to you soon!”

            Once they hung up, Liam quickly finished his shower and got dressed, and was starting to fear that Niall wasn’t calling back after all, but as he exited the bathroom, his phone started ringing again, sounding off that same generic tone. Maybe he would have to save Niall’s number soon. He hoped so.

            “Bad news,” Niall said after Liam had answered. “Zayn has wedding shit to do tomorrow night. I thought he would be done with that shit by now, but what do I know?”

            “Well, shit,” Liam said intelligibly.

            “I do have one more idea, though it’s not quite as good as the first,” Niall admitted.

            “What is it?”

            “Harry.”

            “The Harry that almost got into choke-fight with Louis last night?”

            “Yeah, I told you it wasn’t great,” Niall said with a nervous laugh. “But I’ll talk to Harry before and make sure he’s on his best behavior.”

            “Okay,” Liam agreed, silently apologizing to his friend. “Same with Louis.”

            “It can’t turn out too terribly, right?”

            “I suppose not. If one acts up we could just make him go stand in the corner or something.”

            Niall cackled, even though Liam hadn’t even found his joke that funny himself.

***

            “…Louis?”

            It had been a good thirty seconds since Liam had told Louis of their change of plans for the next night, and the other man had yet to say a word. Liam would have thought there was something wrong with their connection if not for the fact that he could clearly hear Louis’s oldest baby sister, Kelsey, yelling at the television in the background.

            “We can reschedule our plans, Liam,” Louis finally said. “It’s totally fine. I see you all the time.”

            “I don’t want to reschedule,” Liam said. “Please, Lou?”

            There was another long drag of silence, and then,

            “You’re lucky I love you, Leemo.”

***

            Date night took forever to roll around, but it wasn’t all bad, as Niall and Liam texted almost constantly. Then, finally, late afternoon arrived the next day. Liam was just starting to pick out his outfit when his phone rang.

            “Hey, Lou,” he answered, knowing who it was from the ringtone.

            “Hey, Liam! Just called to say have fun at your date tonight and to fill me in on all of the details later!”

            “What? Louis, you’re going to be there, remember?”

            “Actually, I’m not. I’m afraid I have fallen terribly ill and must back out, so you can tell _Harry_ he doesn’t have to hurt himself by trying to be a decent human either in public and just have Niall all to yourself.”

            “You’re not ill, Louis.”

            “I am, quite so.”

            “No you’re not.”

            “Why would you say such a thing?”

            “Because you never actually admit when you don’t feel well. Remember that one double date we went on where you were acting a bit strange and we kept asking if you were alright and you said yes, then you fainted and it turned out your fucking appendix was about to rupture?”

            “Yes, well, this is much worse than that, Liam. Severe chest pain, a knife is being sliced through my skull, vomiting, diarrhea…the works.”

            “Wow.”

            “Yeah. So have fun and I will see you at work tomorrow! If I can make it, of course.”

            “Of course. However, I’m afraid there will be no date under these circumstances.”

            “What? Don’t be silly, Liam. Don’t let my misery hold you back.”

            “Well, I’m quite worried about you, Louis.”

            “No need. Just got to sleep it off.”

            “I should at least bring Lily and Kelsey over to my place. They don’t need to be catching the second coming of the plague from you.”

            “I’ll barricade myself in my room and they’ll be fine. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I am feeling horribly nauseous, so…”

            “Louis?”

            “Yes?”

            “See you at five thirty.”

***

            When it came down to it, Liam almost wished he did let Louis fake sick. The date was all kinds of awkward; not for him and Niall directly-they were doing great-but from the other two. Liam could tell Harry was really trying to at least be friendly, but Louis kept his distance, which wasn’t like him at all, but then, Louis was used to being able to make everyone fall in love with him, so he was probably just nursing a few mild wounds that he hadn’t been so successful last night when it was obvious he’d been very into Harry. This might actually be good for him, Liam thought. Let him see how it felt.

            All in all, however, the double date could have gone much worse. (Harry and Louis did give him and Niall quite a scare when Harry stalked the other to his car after the movie they had gone to see, but they talked for a couple minutes and it didn’t seem too heated, so the other two didn’t intervene.) They did simultaneously sigh once their friends had gone their separate ways.

            “Good,” Niall said, “now I have you to myself. Or are you wanting to go home?”

            “Not really,” Liam admitted. Niall smiled.

            “Great! So what now then?”

            They ended up going to a bar, which may not have been the most romantic thing, but they had a great time. Neither drank a lot, as they both had to drive afterwards, but they didn’t need the alcohol. Liam taught Niall how to play pool-and _really_ play, not…whatever he had been doing-and Niall convinced Liam to sing a duet with him at karaoke. A lady even told them they were a cute couple and didn’t believe them when they said it was their first date, which made them both quite giddy. It really didn’t feel like a first date, though. It felt just like Niall was one of the boys, except Liam had never been so physically attracted to one of the ‘boys.’ He’d never wanted to kiss them and, okay, maybe he had the butterflies, which he had never had before. He was getting used to the feeling, and he rather enjoyed it now.

            By the time they left the bar, it was going on one o’ clock in the morning.

            “Damn,” Niall said. “Guess it’s too late to take you anywhere for a second dinner.”

            “There’s McDonalds,” Liam suggested, and off they went.

            “I wish I could eat like you and still have so much muscle,” Niall commented as he stuffed a fistful of fries into his mouth. Liam smiled adoringly.

            “Well, what do you do for workouts?” he questioned.

            “Um…walk form the couch to my bed? Sometimes.”

            Liam laughed. “That sounds like great cardio, but not very strength-building, I’m afraid.”

            “Oh well. I guess I’ll just have to make you do all the heavy lifting. So, besides working out, what do you do in your free time?”

            “I don’t work out that much,” Liam insisted. “Just in the mornings.”

            “ _Every_ morning?”

            Liam nodded. Niall shook his head.

            “You’re strange, but continue, please.”

            “Um…I just, you know, do whatever. Watch movies, play video games…Sorry, I’m not very interesting.”

            “I don’t agree with that statement. Do you like being a bartender?”

            “It’s alright.”

            “Not what you want to do forever though?”

            “No, I was going to school for marketing, but I, um…stopped for now.”

            “Any particular reason?”

            Liam shifted.

            “Well, when Louis’s mum died and everything happened, he had to drop out and, like, he didn’t really have anyone around, so…He told me to continue, of course, and was quite angry when I did left anyway, so I made up some excuse about potentially changing my major to something else after a short break. He didn’t believe it for a second. Anyway…so I just bartend now and it’s not bad, honestly. I don’t mind it.”

            “You and Louis are pretty close then, huh?”

            “He’s my best friend,” Liam said with an awkward shrug, hoping Niall didn’t get the wrong idea like Zayn and so many others had. He had honestly never felt _that_ way about Louis, and neither had Louis about him, so their closeness wasn’t strange to them, but he supposed if he squinted he could see how it would be for some. Niall didn’t seem to think so, though.

            “Yeah, I get it,” he said. “I’d do the same for one of my close mates.”

            Liam nodded, then changed the subject.

            “Your turn. Are you actually from Ireland or were you born here?”

            Niall was, in fact, born in Ireland. His family had moved to England temporarily when he was twelve, then went back when he was fourteen, but Niall still spent summers with Zayn and Harry until entering college just a few blocks from where they were. (He was going to be a teacher, which Liam thought he would be very good at.)

            Once they finished eating, Niall walked Liam to his car, the two finally agreeing that they should probably be getting home.

            “Thank you for calling,” Liam said as they approached his vehicle. “And the date.”

            “Believe me, it was my pleasure. At the risk of sounding creepy, do you think you would like to meet up for lunch tomorrow? Or, more accurately, today?”

            “I would,” Liam answered, heart skipping a beat.

            “Cool. I work at two, but would you like to meet around noon or so?”

            “Yeah. That’s fine.”

            “Great,” Niall said, smiling. “Can’t wait.”

            With that, the slightly shorter man leaned up to press a gentle kiss onto the other’s lips. Just a soft, sweet, perfect good night kiss.

            Both grinned when they broke apart.

            “Have a great night, Liam.”

            “You too, Niall.”

***

            Like a good friend, Louis listened without interruption as Liam went over almost every detail of what had happened after he had left, and Liam blushed when he realized he’d been rambling about things Louis probably didn’t care about.

            “Sorry,” he apologized after cutting himself off. “You probably didn’t want to hear all that.”

            “I am just honestly so happy that date didn’t end with a blow job in the McDonalds parking lot or the bathroom or, worse, with you drunk and crying about how you’ll never find love.”

            “That was one time. Please let me forget it,” Liam begged. Louis laughed.

            “Hey, what were you and Harry talking about last night after he stalked you to your car?” Liam asked.

            “Oh, just me getting a restraining order against him.”

            “What?!”

            “It was a joke, Liam, calm down. We didn’t talk about anything, really. He apologized for being a prick. I apologized for being an amazing bundle of sass. That’s it.”

            “So you’re cool?”

            “Uh…yeah, I guess.”

            “Do you think you still like him?”

            “I never liked him, Liam. I found him to be exceptionally attractive, as he is, but that doesn’t mean I like him as a person.”

            “Okay,” Liam said, though didn’t quite believe him. He thought Louis had probably felt the ‘click’ and maybe had even gotten butterflies.

***

            Lunch with Niall went smoothly and they stayed at the table until Niall had to leave for work, kissing once again before parting, and with the blonde mentioning maybe stopping by the strip club that night since Liam had to work. Liam hoped he did.

            To Liam’s pleasure, Niall did ‘stop by,’ though didn’t seem to be planning on leaving anytime soon after, which was perfectly fine by the bartender. Louis and Niall talked more that night too, and Liam was happy to see that they were getting along pretty well.

            Harry ended up coming by too and Liam fought to hide his smirk. Maybe there was hope for him and Louis after all; to be friends, in the least.

            Louis hurt his ankle that night, or, really, his boss at his first job-some dickhead that had been trying to get Louis to sleep with him from the moment he was hired-caused him to hurt his ankle ‘accidentally,’ and Liam was about to grab the first-aid kit from under the counter when Harry did the unimaginable and convinced Louis not to go back onstage. _Then_ he even drove him home.

            “They’ve come such a long way,” Niall commented, faking great emotion over it, once the two had left. Liam smiled.

            “Think we can start planning the wedding?”

            “I think they’re probably on their way to a chapel right now, to be honest.”

            Liam laughed again. Niall leaned across the bar to kiss him.

            Niall had been planning on staying until close, but when he almost got into a fight with a drunk man who had been rude to Liam all night and refused to tip, Liam had to make him leave, kissing him after breaking the news and assuring he could come back the next night if he wished.

            When Liam-the last to leave, as always-finally got the club locked up that night and began the walk to his car, he was surprised to find Niall still there, lying on the roof of his own car, staring up at the sky absently.

            “What are you doing?” Liam asked, walking towards the other man.

            “Oh, there you are!” Niall said happily, sitting up and smiling at Liam. “I was getting worried.”

            “You came back?” Liam asked.

            “Never left. That douche fell on his face coming out of the club, by the way. It was great.”

            Liam smiled, reaching a hand out to help Niall leap to the ground, and then asked, “Is there a reason you stayed out here for one-and-a-half hours?”

            “Had to make sure you got to your car safely. It’s dangerous for a pretty thing like you to walk to his car alone at this time of night.”

            “I don’t think it’s any safer for a pretty thing like _you_ to be lying on top of your car in the parking lot of a strip club at this time.”

            “Yeah, well, we’re both okay and that’s what matters.”

            “Come on,” Liam said with another smile as he nodded back to the building. “Let’s go inside. You deserve a drink.”

            “No, _you_ deserve a drink, dealing with pricks like that every night. Let me make you something.”

            “You have some mixing skills?”

            “Not at all. Will you show me?”

            Liam did. He showed Niall to make all of the most popular drinks, and sampled each one, which meant, of course, that he got a bit tipsy.

            “Oh shit,” Niall said with a laugh as Liam announced that it was bed time and stood from his stool, then stumbled and had to catch himself on the bar. “I got you drunk, didn’t I?”

            “Not drunk,” Liam said. “Just tipsy.”

            “Uh-huh. Okay. Well, either way, you’re not driving home like this. Sit there and look pretty while I clean up and then I’ll take you home.”

            “I’m totally fine, Niall.”

            “Alright, Liam. Just humor me then, okay?”

            “Fiiine.”

            “Thank you. Now, where does this stuff all go?”

***

            Once the bar area was all cleaned up, Niall and Liam headed out and maybe Liam was _slightly_ more intoxicated than he’d thought because he had a bit of difficulty locking the door. With a laugh, Niall helped him, then held his hand on the way to his car.

            “You’re not going to get in trouble for that, will you?” the blonde asked as he slid into the driver’s seat and began helping the inebriated man with his seatbelt. Liam giggled.

            “Who cares?”

            “You will, when you’re sober.”

            “It will be fine.”

            “Alright, good. Now please tell me you are not too drunk to give me directions to your place.”

            Liam wasn’t, and soon, they arrived at his apartment complex.

            “Sorry ‘tis a shit hole,” Liam apologized, which made Niall snort for some reason.

            “It’s not. Come on, I’ll get you in.”

            “I’m way up on the third floor.”

            “Yeah, you are definitely not doing stairs by yourself.”

            “Not that drunk,” Liam insisted. Niall didn’t give him a reply.

            Admittedly, Liam was a bit unsteady as he ventured upstairs, Niall’s hand on his back to make sure he didn’t fall. Liam thought he was holding himself together pretty well still, but Mr. Henry, the older man in the apartment across from Liam’s, gave them both a strange look as he passed them, on his way to take his dog outside for her nightly bathroom break.

            “Good evening, Mr. Henry!” Liam greeted cheerfully, even though it was after three in the morning.

            “Hello,” Mr. Henry said cooly.

            “That’s Mr. Henry,” Liam explained to Niall in a whisper. “He’s a bit homophobic and thinks we’re about to have dirty gay sex.”

            “Oh, fuck, Liam,” Niall said with a cackle when the old man turned to shoot daggers at them. Apparently he had good ears because Liam had been whispering very quietly. Honestly.

            “Exactly. He thinks you’re going to fuck me,” Liam said. Niall laughed harder, having to grip onto the railing to steady himself. Liam smiled. He liked Niall’s laugh a lot. He told him so.

            “Do you have a roommate?” Niall asked as he waited patiently for Liam to figure out which key belonged to his apartment.

            “Nope. Just me,” Liam answered, having success over the door and falling inside. Niall grabbed onto his waist.

            “I don’t feel right leaving you alone like this,” he commented.

            “Am fine,” Liam assured him.

            “Alright. Let me at least get you into bed before I go.”

            “Kinky.”

            “No, not kinky.”

            “Well, that isn’t very nice.”

            Niall laughed as he took it upon himself to find Liam’s kitchen (not hard to do in such a small place.)

            “You’re gorgeous, Liam, so it has nothing to do with that, but you are way too drunk and I am way too sober to do anything like that.”

            “Ugh, morals,” Liam sighed. Niall smiled as he opened Liam’s pantry.

            “Yes. I do have morals.”

            “That is very charming.”

            “Thank you.”

            Eventually, Niall found Liam’s bread and then got out cheese and some lunch meat, which, okay. He hadn’t been lying when he said he liked food.

            “Here you go,” Niall said once the sandwich was finished and he’d placed it on a paper towel in front of Liam, along with a water bottle.

            “For me?” Liam asked.

            “Yeah. You’ll hate me a lot less in the morning if you eat something now.”

            “Couldn’t hate you,” Liam said, but took a big bite of the sandwich anyway. It tasted better than when he made them.

            “You can eat too,” Liam told the other man once he was halfway done.

            “I’m fine. Thank you, though.”

            Liam finished his meal and then went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Apparently he was walking a bit better because Niall didn’t tail him.

            “Thank you for driving me home and making me food,” Liam spoke as he climbed into bed, Niall taking it upon himself to cover Liam’s boxer-clad body with the sheets.

            “You’re welcome,” Niall said, placing a kiss on the other’s forehead. “Get some sleep. I’ll see you sometime later to go get your car.”

            “Are you sure you don’t want to have sex?” Liam asked. Niall gave another laugh.

            “It’s not a matter of _wanting_ to, Liam. Get some rest, okay?”

            “You’re so amazing, Niall. Are you sure you’re really single?”

            “I am,” Niall assured him.

            “I’m single too.”

            “I was hoping so.”

            “Really?”

            “Yeah, cuz I kind of want to make you my boyfriend.”

            “I would like that.”

            “Okay,” Niall said with a smile. “We’ll see if you still feel the same way when you wake up.”

            “I will.”

            “I hope so.”

            Niall placed another kiss on Liam’s forehead and told him to get some sleep again, then left the room. Liam was out before he was even down the hall.

            Liam didn’t feel great the next morning, but he didn’t feel terrible, probably thanks to the sandwich Niall had made him. Niall was so wonderful, although Liam did almost piss himself when he walked down his hallway and found the man on his couch, curled in a blanket and scrolling on his phone.

            “Oh, hi,” Niall said, setting his mobile down when he heard Liam approaching.

            “Hi,” Liam said.

            “I hope it’s okay that I stayed here and made myself comfortable. I just didn’t want to leave you alone after getting you drunk.”

            “Well, since you’re my boyfriend, I suppose it’s alright that you stayed,” Liam teased. Niall smiled. “But you didn’t have to stay on the sofa,” Liam continued.

            “It’s okay. It was actually pretty comfortable. How do you feel?”

            “Not bad. Would you like some breakfast? I’m thinking the classic eggs and bacon hangover remedy.”

            “Sounds delicious.”

            Niall offered to cook, but Liam assured him it was fine.

            They lazed around after breakfast for a bit and then, after Liam got ready, went to Niall’s house so he could freshen up before going to get Liam’s car, although they really just hung out at Niall’s place until that night, when Niall dropped him (and Louis) off at work. He didn’t come in, but got out of the car to pull Liam into a kiss after Louis had gone off ahead of them. That kiss was just a little harder, more passionate, from the ones before.

            For the next few weeks, Liam couldn’t believe his life. He’d never felt so alive; so happy. Not that he was regularly sad or anything, but his life was normally far from exciting. Not anymore though. Everything he did with Niall was fun and exciting, even if it was just cuddling on the couch at one of their places or talking on the phone. Niall even invited him to go to Zayn’s wedding with him and, as he watched the ceremony, the cutting of the cake and all of the typical wedding events, he could clearly see him and Niall in Zayn and Perrie’s places. Maybe not yet, but soon.

            The only thing that made Liam uncomfortable about his relationship was that now, three weeks after they’d started dating, they had yet to move past light make-outs. Liam had already been rejected for more when he was drunk and Niall had claimed it was only because of ‘morals’ but what if that wasn’t it? What if he just honestly wasn’t attracted to Liam, but felt he had gone too far to completely back out at this point?

            “Guys don’t do that shit, Liam,” Louis had said when Liam voiced his concerns. “If he didn’t like you, you would know, and anyway, I’ve seen you two together. He’s crazy about you. He just also respects you.”

            “I don’t want him to respect me,” Liam said. “I want him to demolish me.”

            Louis choked on his tea.

            “Respect is a good thing, Liam,” Louis said once he’d recovered. “I know it’s a new thing for you because you usually have the worst taste in men imaginable, but you did good this time. Besides, if you want it so bad, why haven’t you made the first move?”

            “I did.”

            “It doesn’t count when you’re drunk.”

            “I don’t know if he wants to,” Liam said with a sigh. “I don’t want to mess things up or make him think that’s what I’m after. I don’t want our relationship to be based on sex like all of my others.”

            “Well, maybe he feels the same way.”

            “Maybe, but what if he doesn’t?”

            “What if, what if. You have a date tomorrow, right?”

            “Yeah.”

            “Good. Make a move and I promise his pants will be off by the end of the night.”

***

            Niall took Liam to his favorite upscale restaurant that they actually had to dress up for a bit and who served champagne with their meal. Liam didn’t drink much, though, as he didn’t want Niall to accuse him of being too drunk when he made his move. In turn, Niall didn’t drink much either, so good. Both were thinking clearly. Well, mostly. It was hard for Liam to concentrate on their conversation through his nerves and _why_ he was so nervous, he wasn’t sure, because it was just sex. Or maybe it wasn’t.

            They went back to Liam’s after dinner to watch a movie, but Liam couldn’t even remember the title or hear much of it over the loud sound of his heart thumping. _Just do it_ , Liam urged himself, but no, not yet. Niall was watching the movie, he best not disturb him.

            About halfway through or so, Niall diverted his eyes away from the screen to look up at Liam from his place in the other’s lap.

            “Something the matter?” Niall asked with a soft smile as he reached up to run one finger across Liam’s jawline. Niall may be wonderful, but he was also evil.

            “No, nothing’s the matter,” Liam said, forcing his own smile.

            “You sure?” Niall asked.

            “Do you want to spend the night?” Liam said before he could stop himself. Niall’s eyes widened briefly, but then he grinned.

            “I would love to,” he answered, sitting up and pausing the movie before tugging gently on Liam’s shirt and pulling him into a kiss.

            If Liam had known that was all it was going to take, he wouldn’t have been so nervous. Probably.

            He soon found out, though, that sex with Niall was not just sex. They didn’t do it and then call it a night, as was typical in Liam’s experience. They took their time and just seemed to know when the other liked or didn’t like a certain thing. (Not that there was much they didn’t like when it was coming from each other.) It wasn’t _gentle_ , because Liam didn’t think there was such a thing as gentle sex, particularly, but it was patient and caring and just perfect.

They didn’t even pass out right after they were done. They laid there for a little while longer, talking like they did every night on the phone before they went to bed. When they did finally fall asleep, they were holding hands; nothing more, nothing less, and that too was perfect.

***

            Liam woke up in a sweat a couple hours later, which wasn’t like him. When he was out, he was usually out for good, but only moments after opening his eyes, he realized what had pulled him from his slumber when a strong wave of nausea passed him. Temporarily forgetting he wasn’t alone, he let out a groan and turned his head into his pillow as if to smother himself. He startled a bit when he felt a warm hand touch his bare back before remembering that it was only Niall.

            “You okay?” he asked, voice groggy, but concerned.

            “I’m fine,” Liam lied because waking up sick was not the way he’d wanted to end their sleepover, so he was refusing to believe that was actually happening.

            “Oh, okay. I thought I heard you make a noise or something,” Niall said, massaging Liam’s back anyway.

            “Nope,” Liam said. “Go back to sleep.”          

            “Okay. Good night. Again.”

            “Night.”

            Niall seemingly drifted off again, but Liam couldn’t, his nausea deciding to stop coming in waves and just settle and, really, fuck his life, he thought as he snuck off to quietly throw up in the bathroom. He didn’t feel any better afterwards and went to sit on the couch, as laying down sounded miserable and he didn’t want to pass anything to Niall. It was probably too late for that anyway and what a great way to thank Niall for the amazing night; to give him the stomach flu.

            Liam hated everything.

            After getting sick one more time, Liam did manage to fall into a light sleep back on the couch, but he wasn’t out very long before he was woken by being shaken softly. Opening his eyes, he saw Niall staring down at him, worry on his face.

            “What are you doing out here?” he asked. “Was I snoring or something?”

            “No, nothing like that,” Liam assured him, nausea returning with a vengeance, clearly angry that he’d gotten a few minutes’ peace.

            “Was…was it too soon?” Niall asked, worry growing. “I’m sorry. I thought when you asked me to stay the night…Shit, I’m really sorry. You could have told me.”

            “It has nothing to do with that,” Liam assured him, sitting up and wincing against the sharp pain in his stomach.

            “Did I hurt you?!” Niall asked then, borderline frantic.

            “No,” Liam answered simply, standing and going around his boyfriend to go to the bathroom once again. He locked the door and turned on the water to spare Niall, but he was waiting outside the door when Liam exited, stern look on his face.

            “You’re sick,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

            “Yeah,” Liam sighed. “I’m sorry.”

            “Why are you apologizing? You can’t help it.”

            “This wasn’t exactly what I had planned.”

            “Why didn’t you wake me up?” Niall wondered as he moved forward to place a hand on the other’s forehead. “And do you have a thermometer?”

            “Yeah, but you can go back to bed, or go home, if you want. It’s not your job to take care of me.”

            “Course it is! I’m your boyfriend!” Niall exclaimed cheerily as he began searching Liam’s medicine cabinet for a thermometer, which he found and stuck into Liam’s mouth.

            “Still not your job to take care of me,” Liam said around the object.

            “Sh,” Niall hushed.

            It was a low grade fever, but Niall then took that time to find some medicine for his boyfriend, continuing to talk as he searched.

            “Did you feel back all night?”

            “No, it just woke me up a couple hours ago. I really hope you don’t get it.”

            “Think it’s the flu?” Niall asked.

            “Don’t know what else it could be.”

            “Well, are you achy?”

            “No.”

            “Dizzy?”

            “No.”

            “Think it’s food poisoning?”

            Food poisoning. Huh. Liam hadn’t even thought of that. He smiled.

            “Yeah, maybe. It did taste a bit funny.”

            “Why are you smiling?” Niall inquired, looking afraid for Liam’s sanity. “And why didn’t you send it back if it tasted weird?”

            “I’m just glad you won’t catch it,” Liam said. “And I thought I was just nervous over asking you to stay.”

            “Aww,” Niall nearly cooed, looking generally touched, but then he frowned, “Shit, I’m really sorry though.”

            “Why are you sorry?”

            “It was my idea to go to that restaurant.”

            “It was my idea to get the salmon.”

            Salmon. Eww. Just the word now made Liam nauseous and…oh god.

            “Go back to bed,” Niall said gently a minute later. “Do you have juice or something?”

            “No, but it’s okay. You don’t have to stay. I’m disgusting.”

            “You’re not disgusting. You’re sick. I’m going to the store to get you some juice, but I’ll be back.”

            “You really don’t have to.”

            “It will be better for you than water. Please, Liam. I want to.”

            “Okay,” Liam agreed reluctantly, and then went to sit in bed.

            Despite the fact that it was just before four in the morning, Liam called Louis once Niall had left.

            “Liam?” Louis answered, voice hoarse and worried.

            “Lou,” Liam whined.

            “What’s wrong? Did he reject you?! Fucking arse, I’ll rip his genitals off, I swear.”

            “No, no. He’s staying the night.”

            “Oh…oh! That’s great! Is this a post-sex call then, Liam, because I know I said I wanted to know how it went, but letting me know you scored while the guy is in the other room isn’t a very classy move and, wait, if you got lucky, why do you sound so miserable? Are you not compatible in bed? Because you can work through that, it just takes patience and understand-”

            “No, Louis, it’s not that,” Liam cut off his friend.

            “Oh. Then what in the hell are you calling me at fucking four o’ clock in the morning for?!”

            “I have food poisoning,” Liam said, whining again. Hey, he had every right. “Niall said he went to get me juice, but what if he was just trying to make a nice escape?”

            “That really sucks, mate, but I’m sure that’s not what Niall is doing.”

            “It’s going to be over,” Liam sighed.

            “Why do you say that?”

            “He’s got to be grossed out. He just saw me throw up!”

            “Ah, don’t worry about it, mate. I threw up on my last boyfriend the first night I met him and we were together for years after that. You’ll be fine.”

            “It was supposed to be romantic!”

            “Liam, get some sleep. It’s all going to be okay.”

            “You think?”

            “Yes, and if not, the offer to remove his genitals is still in place.”

***

            Liam was asleep when Niall returned, but he _did_ return and was lying asleep next to Liam when the other woke again, spotting three cups with three different types of juices. There was also a note that read, _Forgot to ask what flavor you preferred! Wake me up if you need to, XO_

            Smiling, Liam decided on the grape juice as he set the note back on his nightstand. He didn’t feel so bad now and thought maybe the worst was over.

            He thought wrong.

            Liam was embarrassed, and Niall felt guilty, which was stupid, but Niall assured him multiple times that there was nowhere else he would rather be when Liam told him time after time that he could go home.

            By midafternoon, the worst really was, finally, over, and he and Niall had a movie marathon. Liam knew he wouldn’t be able to work that night, as he was still very weak  and exhausted, and he felt bad that he was deserting Louis and Lily, but felt better when Louis assured him he’d found a sitter. Both he and Niall exchanged knowing smiles when they found out the sitter was Harry.

            Things apparently went to hell that night at the club because the next day, Harry called Niall to ask if he could maybe get Louis a job at the mall where he worked, as Louis’s boss at his convenience store job had fired him on the grounds that Louis wouldn’t sleep with him. Niall was confident he could and he did, and in the meantime, he and Liam plotted the death of his former boss together.

            It was about a week after that when Harry asked Louis on a date. Liam overheard and fought to keep his expression neutral so they wouldn’t know, but it was hard when Louis didn’t say yes right away. Louis had been hurt, Liam knew, and badly, when his ex-fiancé decided he couldn’t handle the baggage Louis was left with when his mom died and his dad fled, but Billy had always been a jerk. Well, maybe not always, but more so as the years passed. Harry was doing the opposite; getting better with time, so Liam thought he at least deserved a chance.

            Thankfully, Louis finally agreed.

            They had a great time on their date, but Louis was stressed a couple days later because he hadn’t heard from Harry since the morning after their date. He was trying to act cool about it, but he really wasn’t fooling anyone.

            “I think he’s waiting for you to call,” Niall explained when Louis got off the stage and saw that the Irishman was, once again, visiting his boyfriend at work and made a passive aggressive comment asking how a certain curly-haired friend had bene doing since he’d decided to drop off the face of the Earth.

            “Why do I have to do all the work?” Louis retorted.

            “You haven’t done any of the work,” Liam pointed out, causing Louis to shoot daggers at him with his eyes.

            “Whose side are you on, Payne?”

            “I’m a neutral party,” Liam said.

            “Well, you should be on mine.”

            Liam rolled his eyes.

            “Just call him, Lou.”

            “I don’t have anything to talk to him about.”

            “Ask him to do something then.”

            “Like what?”

            “Anything.”

            “Stan invited us to a party tomorrow,” Louis said. “I know you’re off work, so you and Niall can go, and I thought about asking Harry.”

            “You should,” Niall said quickly.

            “I got someone to cover my shift here, but I’ll have to find someone to watch the kids too.”

            “I’ll watch the kids,” Liam offered. “Niall and I don’t need to go to the party. _You_ need to get out. And ask Harry to join you.”

            “That’s not fair to you, Liam.”

            “I don’t even want to go.”

            “Well, Niall might want to.”

            “I’m cool with staying and helping with the kids,” Niall said. Louis glared. “Ask Harry,” Niall added.

            “I’ll think about it,” Louis said before going backstage and ignoring them for the rest of the night.

***

            _You still up for babysitting tonight?_ Louis texted Liam the next afternoon. Liam and Niall smiled and high-fived.

***

            When Louis dropped his sisters off that night, Liam became slightly nostalgic, thanks to Louis’s band t-shirt and ripped jeans. He looked like his old, university party-boy self, almost like everything in his life hadn’t taken a nosedive the past few months.

            Niall was a great co-babysitter (though refused to change any diapers) and even though they weren’t at some highly anticipated college party, they all had a great time. Kelsey had already met Niall on a few occasions and liked him, but they bonded more that night and the guys even gave her permission to stay up until the other boys got home, mostly convinced that she wouldn’t make it. Her eyes were already starting to grow tired at about one in the morning, and Liam’s were too, to be honest, when Niall shook his shoulder gently.

            “Hm?” Liam hummed, looking over and frowning when he saw worry on his boyfriend’s face. Niall handed him his phone and Liam looked down to see a text from Harry, reading, _Tell your boyfriend that Louis won’t be getting his sisters tonight._

            Liam raised a questioning eyebrow, but Niall shrugged, taking his phone and heading outside of the apartment, presumably to call Harry.

            “Kels, you might as well get to bed,” Liam spoke, stretching as he stood. “Looks like you’re spending the night here.”

            “Why?” she asked, frown on her face. “Are Louis and Harry okay?”

            “Yeah, I think they’re just too tired to drive and crashing at the party tonight,” Liam said, wishing that was the case but feeling as if it wasn’t.

            “What am I going to wear to bed?” the girl asked.

            “You can use one of my t-shirts as a nightgown,” Liam told her. “I’ll go grab one while you brush your teeth. There’s an extra toothbrush in the linen closet.”

            She went off and Niall re-entered the apartment, worry on his face increased.

            “His phone is turned off,” he said. “Try Louis.”

            Liam did, but was sent to voicemail after several rings.

            “Do you think they’re okay?” he asked his boyfriend worriedly.

            “Yeah. I mean, if something were seriously wrong, I think Harry would have told us.”

            “I am going to kill them,” Liam decided because, already, he knew sleep was hopeless for the night.

            Niall tried calling and texting Harry a few more times, as Liam did with Louis, but neither got a response until just after seven in the morning, when Louis called.

            “Fucking finally!” Liam greeted pleasantly.

            “Ow, please keep your voice down, Liam,” Louis groaned, even though Liam hadn’t been much louder than usual.

            “What happened?! Are you both okay?!”

            Louis sighed.

            “Yes. No. Yes. Mostly.”

            “Tell me what happened.”

            “I started to feel sick at the party last night and my head was killing me, so Harry went to get me something to take, but I didn’t take into consideration that he doesn’t know our friends and whatever I was given wasn’t exactly legal. We separated at one point, because I was sure I was about to be sick and didn’t want him to have to see that, but I wasn’t. I got so weak, though, and my head was so foggy. Emory, that strange guy from your marketing class that had a thing for me, came into the bathroom when I was trying to get out and he had me against the wall and was, like, kissing my neck and stuff and he wouldn’t let up. He did eventually. Nothing _really_ happened, but Harry saw and, shit, he was so pissed. He thinks I was just randomly snogging some guy in the bathroom and I tried to explain, but it was hard when I felt like death and he wanted to kill me. And now his phone’s off.”

            Liam was silent for a moment, taking in everything he’d just been told.

            “Li?” Louis urged.

            “Sorry, just…Okay, first thing’s first. Are _you_ okay, Lou?”

            “Yeah. I have a massive headache still, but I’m fine.”

            “Good. But, yeah, Harry’s phone has been off all night. He sent Niall a text to tell him you weren’t coming to get the girls, but when Niall tried to call soon after, it went straight to voicemail.”

            “Do you think he’s okay?” Louis asked worriedly.

            “I’m sure he’s fine. Probably just pissed.”

            Louis groaned.

            “But it’s not your fault, Lou. Keep trying to call him; we will too, and then if nothing else, go over later when you’re feeling up to it. He can’t ignore us forever.”

            “I really like him, Liam,” Louis said, voice soft.

“I know, and he likes you too. I know it.”

            “Probably not anymore.”

            “He does. That’s why it hurts so much, but just explain what happened and he can’t be mad at you anymore.”

            “Okay. I’m going to try to sleep a little more and then I’ll go talk to him before getting the girls. Is that okay? Or do you want me to come get them now?”

            “No, you know they’re welcome to stay whenever, for however long. Go to sleep, and keep me updated when you wake up.”

            “Okay. I’ll talk to you later.”

            “Yep. Bye.”

            “What happened?” Niall, who had been staring at Liam, but waiting patiently throughout the phone call, asked as Liam locked his phone and placed it back on the nightstand. Liam explained.

            “Christ,” Niall breathed. “Does that guy have the worst luck ever or something?”

            “He often tells me the universe is conspiring against him and I usually agree. He must have been a real shitty person in a past life.”

            Niall laughed and gave Liam a kiss before sighing and rolling on his back.

            “Well now that we at least know everyone is alive, let’s try to get some sleep before the baby wakes us, yeah?”

            “Technically, we don’t know that Harry’s alive,” Liam pointed out.

            “He’s alive,” Niall assured him. “This is Harry pouting. He’ll be fine.”

***

            Louis messaged Liam that he was going to talk to Harry, who had still not turned on his phone by early the next afternoon, and then would be over to get the girls. Liam told him to take his time and was alarmed when there was a knock on the door less than an hour later and there stood Louis, actually crying.

            “I hate him,” Louis said before Liam could even ask, throwing his arms around his best friend’s neck and burying his face into his chest.

            “The hell did he do?” Niall asked.

            “Louis, what’s wrong?” Kelsey added worriedly.

            “I hate him,” Louis repeated.

            “Let’s go to my room and talk about it,” Liam suggested. Louis nodded, pulling away from Liam and wiping his eyes. Niall looked furious, so Liam shot him a reassuring look before leading Louis to the bedroom and locking the door.

            “Alright,” he said. “What happened?”

            Louis explained how Harry hadn’t even let him speak for a while; just started spouting off angrily, at one point calling Louis a whore and at one point insinuating his lack of parenting skills. He cried harder as he talked, and Liam was angry, of course, but remained as calm as possible while looking for reason.

            “He said all the bad things before you told him what happened,” Liam said. “That’s not an excuse, Lou, but this _is_ Harry we’re talking about. We both know he’s a bit…socially awkward. He was speaking out of emotion.”

            “I know that, Liam, but he hit where he _knew_ it would hurt the worst.”

            “I know, and no matter what, you didn’t deserve that, but he seemed to feel really bad about it afterwards.”

            “Doesn’t change anything.”

            “I know,” Liam said again. “You don’t have to forgive him, but right now you’re overwhelmed by your emotions too, so it’s kind of catastrophic. Maybe just let yourself cool off so you can think about it a bit more rationally?”

            “It still won’t change. It’s over, whatever _it_ was.”

            “Lou-”

            “No, Liam, please. I can’t be with him.”

            “Why not?”

            Louis sighed, looking anywhere but at Liam as he shoved his hands in his back pocket and said,

            “I’m sick.”

            “What?” Liam asked, a terrible feeling already forming in his chest. “What do you mean ‘sick’, Louis?”

            “It’s back.”

            Liam didn’t say anything for a while, both because he couldn’t and because he didn’t know what to say anyway. This had always been one of his biggest fears. Back when he first met Louis at seven years old, Louis had had a form of leukemia and was in the hospital, undergoing treatments. Eventually, he’d gone into remission, but they both knew that the cancer could come back anytime. They’d had one scare, during their second semester at university, when Louis felt sick for a long time, but all of the tests the doctors ran came out normal and, eventually, he recovered on his own. Stress, the doctor had said, which was reasonable, as Louis was the type to push himself to the breaking point.

            “Have you been to the doctor yet?” Liam finally asked, clearing his throat after his voice cracked.

            “No. I will, but I already know.”

            “How? It could just be stress again. You do have a lot of pressure and responsibilities right now.”

            “It’s not stress,” Louis said. “It doesn’t feel the same. I just _know_ what it is, and I wish it was stress and that I could pop a few Ativan and it would go away, but that’s not it.”

            A lump formed in Liam’s throat then, and Louis looked distressed at the tears that welled up in his friend’s eyes.

            “Please don’t cry,” he said gently.

            “I’m sorry, it’s just…it’s just…”

            “I know.”

            Both men took a couple minutes to compose themselves and then went back to the living area, where Niall and Kelsey were waiting nervously.

            “Are you okay, Louis?” Kelsey asked.

            “I’m fine,” he said, forcing a smile for the girl. “Just boy drama.”

            “I don’t think you really hate Harry, though,” she tried.

            “Come on, kid,” Louis said. “Let’s go home.”

            “So what happened?” Niall asked his boyfriend when the others were gone. Liam explained, leaving out the cancer part because he just couldn’t deal with that right now and didn’t expect Niall to either.

            “Do you think they will make up?” Niall asked.

            “I don’t think so,” Liam said.

            “But we’re okay?”

            Niall looked so stressed, so Liam gave him a reassuring smile and a kiss on the lips.

            “Of course we are. We’re not them.”

            “Good. I love you, Liam.”

            It was the first time either of them had used that word, and Liam at first wondered where the butterflies were before realizing that they didn’t show up because he’d already known that. They spent nearly every possible moment together, had a minimum of hour-long chats at night and had still yet to get tired of each other. Liam had introduced Niall to his mother just last week and, a couple days later, Niall had invited him to join a Skype session with his family, who told him they couldn’t wait to officially meet him when they visited in a few months. They both loved each other and were in love.

            That didn’t mean Liam didn’t love hearing it though.

            “I love you too,” he said sincerely, and Niall smiled one of the brightest smiles Liam had ever seen him give.

***

            Louis was right. The cancer was back. Liam had spent the past few days doing everything he could to avoid thinking about the possibility, which really wasn’t hard when Niall never gave him a free moment (not that he was complaining.) When Louis gave the news that he was, indeed, sick, he hadn’t been crying, but Liam did. Louis didn’t ask him to stop then, which was good because he wouldn’t have been able to even if he tried.

            The tears came off and on for the next few days and Liam really wasn’t in control of it at all, which meant that when he wasn’t at work, he was at home, staring at a blank television screen or an old, cracking ceiling. He replied to all of Niall’s text messages, but claimed to not feel well when he tried to make plans. Liam felt bad, and it really wasn’t a lie, but he knew he should tell his boyfriend, who he loved, the truth. He just couldn’t. Not yet.

            _Mind if I stop by the club tonight?_ Niall asked on the fourth consecutive day of not seeing each other. Liam missed him, but he wasn’t a great actor. He knew Niall would figure out that something was wrong.

            _You can if you want,_ Liam said back anyway. _I might not be very talkative. Still have a headache._

            _You really should go to the doctor, babe_

_I’ll be fine. Will I see you tonight?_

            _Yeah. I’ll come by at the end of the night and maybe we can talk then?_

Oh god. The _can we talk_. Liam had ruined it now. Of course.

            _Sure_ , he said anyway.

            _Okay. See you later. Have a good night._

            There was no ‘love you’ this time. Yep. It was over.

            The night dragged on and Liam must have been acting pretty pathetic because numerous customers told him it looked like he was the one in need of a drink. Louis even convinced him to take a few shots, insisting that he would drive him home this time. It was then that Liam explained he was talking to Niall after work. The “o” Louis made with his mouth said it all.

            Niall came ten minutes before closing, but the staff knew him by now-the owner had even started giving him free admittance and they greeted him cheerfully. Liam even smiled a bit. It was good to see him again, though would be better if it wasn’t most likely for the last time.

            “Hello!” Louis called out as the blonde approached the bar, looking nervous himself.

            “Hey, Louis,” Niall said, smiling a bit. “How are you?”

            “Fine. How are you?”

            “I’m okay.”

            “That’s good. I think. Anyway, I’m getting a ride with Jared, Liam. I’ll see you later.”

            “Okay.”

            Louis said goodbye to Niall and headed off to wait for the front counter worker.

            “Do you…um…do you want anything?” Liam offered his for-the moment boyfriend.

            “No, thank you. Would you like help cleaning up?”

            “That’s okay.”

            One by one, everyone filed out, and then it was Liam and Niall’s turn. Niall didn’t even wait for Liam to finish grabbing his things before starting.

            “Are you avoiding me?”

            “No,” Liam said, because it wasn’t _him_ he was avoiding, really. The two began walking outside.

            “It seems like you are,” Niall said.

            “I’m sorry.”

            “What’s going on, Liam? Do you want to break up?”

            “No!”

            (Liam wondered if that mattered at this point.)

            “I don’t want to break up, Niall.”

            “So you’ve really been sick?”

            “Yes. No, Kind of…It’s complicated.

            “How is it complicated? You’ve either been sick or you haven’t.”

            “It’s not…Louis is sick, not me.”

            They were at Liam’s car then, Liam’s back against the trunk while Niall stood close, but not as close as usual.

            “So you’ve been helping him out then?” Niall asked, looking confused.

            “Well…no.”

            “You’re killing me, Li. Just tell me what’s going on, please.”

            “He has cancer!” Liam said, voice higher pitched than he would care to admit, and there were the damn tears again. “Louis has cancer and I’m sorry you feel like I’ve been avoiding you, but I just needed time, okay?”

            “Oh,” Niall said, both his tone and expression softening as he uncrossed his arms. “He…fuck. Li, you could have told me, babe. I would have understood.”

            “I didn’t want to talk about it.”

            “Okay…okay. I’m sorry. I’ll just…I’ll give you time.”

            “No!” Liam exclaimed, reaching out to grab Niall’s hand when he began to turn away. “Don’t go.”

            “Is that really what you want?”

            “I don’t want you to go.”

            “Okay, then I’m not going anywhere.”

            Liam pulled Niall closer, wrapping his arms around him, and Niall returned the gesture, holding tight.

            “I’m sorry,” Liam said again.

            “It’s okay,” Niall assured him.

            “Do you want to spend the night?”

            “I would like that.”

            Niall already had things at Liam’s place, so he followed him straight there. They washed up quietly and then got into bed, Liam curling up close by Niall’s side. Still, they didn’t say a word, but that was okay. Liam fell asleep quickly and it was the best he’d slept since finding out the news.

            Things were fine between the two after that; perfect, even. Liam felt bad for a while, knowing he’d caused Niall distress with his distance, but Niall assured him that it was fine, he understood and that they were as strong as ever.

            Things between Liam and Louis weren’t quite so great, as Louis had started seeing his ex-fiancé again and Liam wanted to kill him, or at least put him into a medically induced coma for a while. He insisted that Billy had changed and was amazing, but Liam didn’t find it very amazing that he didn’t even take his boyfriend to his first chemo session or stay that night with him; leaving the guy’s eleven-year-old sister to take care of her very sick brother, something Liam didn’t know about until after the fact. So, as angry as he was with him, he was still his best friend, and Liam stayed with him for a while, helping with the girls and making sure Louis was getting at least some nutrition and was staying hydrated on the nights where he was really sick. Billy wasn’t happy about that fact and finally stepped up after a few weeks.

            Then Louis told Liam he was quitting treatments.

            “It’s hopeless,” Louis had said. “It’s probably not going to work anyway, and even if it does, how long will I be okay until it just comes back again? I’m miserable, Liam, and I can’t do this anymore.”

            Liam had tried to convince him he was being stupid, of course, and Louis listened, but didn’t cave, even when Liam started crying like he’d already died. Well, he’d just basically signed his own death certificate, so it was close enough.

            “Hey, do you remember when we were fifteen, and you’d just been dumped by that dumb ass football player, so we were having intoxicated heart-to-hearts?”

            “Yeah…,” Liam had said, wondering what that had to do with anything.

            “You told me that your biggest fear was that my cancer would come back and you would lose me.”

            “Yeah, I fucking know that Louis! Why do you think I’m freaking out?!”

            Despite everything, Louis gave a small laugh.

            “I told you not to worry, that I couldn’t go anywhere because I had to watch out for you until you found a decent guy who would actually treat you the way you deserve to be treated.”

            “What does that have to do with anything?!”

            “Well, you found him.”

            “No,” Liam said flatly. “I mean, yes, but just because I have Niall doesn’t mean you can just go die on me!”

            “I’d be dying either way,” Louis said gently, giving the top of Liam’s head what was supposed to be a comforting kiss. “But this way, I have one less person to worry about. You’ll be fine, Liam.”

            Liam didn’t quite agree with that, but nothing was going to change Louis’s mind, so he just had to accept it. He never accepted it, actually, but he pretended because he would rather be with Louis while he could than push him away now knowing he would never get him back again.

***

            “When’s your birthday?” Niall asked randomly as he and Liam were sitting in the local park one night, having a nice, candlelit picnic. It was late June.

            “August twenty-ninth,” Liam said. “When’s yours?”

            “September thirteenth. Anyway, do you think you could get off work the whole week of your birthday?”

            “What would I need to do that for?”

            “Because I’m taking you to Paris.”

            Liam’s jaw dropped.

            “What?”

            “We’re going to Paris! You said you hadn’t been and we both were interested in going, so we are.”

            “I am a poor man, Niall.”

            “Don’t worry,” Niall said with a laugh. “That’s what I got a second job for.”

            “You said college tuition went up.”

            “I lied. Happy birthday.”

            “Niall…”

            “Yes?”

            “That’s way too much…”

            “No it isn’t. Come on, babe, don’t you want to go?”

            “Well, yeah, I do…”

            “Good. It was going to be your Christmas present, but if your birthday wasn’t earlier, then I was going to find some other excuse to go early because…well…just, the sooner the better, you know?”

            “Yeah,” Liam said, knowing where he was going with that. “But still. That’s a ton of money.”

            “I know. You didn’t give me very long to save,” Niall teased. “But it’s fine. It’s summer, I’ve got no classes, so I can work all the time and before you reject me again, just know that next time you do, I’m taking Billy.”

            “Billy?!” Liam asked with a disbelieving, horrified laugh. “Why him?”

            “Because if I threatened to take anyone else, you’d be like, ‘Oh yeah, they really deserve to go because of x reason, you should take them, Niall, have fun.’”

            Liam smiled. His boyfriend knew him too well.

            “Paris would get Billy away from Louis and the girls for a while though,” he reasoned jokingly.

            “Yeah, but I figure we can just put him in a box and ship him to Guatemala or something. God, Liam, don’t make me think about Billy and me in Paris, that’s nauseating.”

            Liam smiled.

            “So when are we leaving?”

***

            It was a bittersweet summer, to say the least. Niall was, as always, amazing, and though he didn’t have much free time anymore with two jobs, they made sure to see each other at least every other day and, still talk to each other on the phone every night. Liam spent a lot of time with Louis and the girls too, and Louis tried to make it seem like he felt completely normal, but Liam knew him better than that. He was going downhill fast, and though Liam knew Niall scheduled the Paris trip earlier to avoid any tragedies while they were gone, Liam was starting to get scared it wouldn’t be early enough anyway.

            In an effort to make him feel a little better, Niall threw a party a couple weeks before they were set to leave, inviting all of their friends.

            “Even Harry?” Niall asked as he began to make the guest list.

            “Yeah, you should definitely invite Harry,” Liam said.

            “Really?” Niall asked, eyebrow raised.

            “Yeah,” Liam said. “I know he and Louis only went on, like, two dates or whatever, but things ended pretty badly and I think it will be better if they see each other and, you know, maybe talk it out. Enough time has passed, I think, and given the circumstances, I don’t think Louis is still holding on to all that happened.”

            Niall studied Liam for a few moments, trying to decide if he was thinking clearly through his stress, probably, but eventually nodded and added Harry’s name to the list.

            “Hey, it kind of feels like we’re making our wedding list,” Liam said with a smile as he scooted the notebook over a bit so he could kiss Niall’s thigh and then rest his head in his lap.

            “Wedding list, huh?” Niall asked, looking down and smiling at his boyfriend. Truth be told, proposing was something Liam had been thinking seriously about for a while now and, even though he and Niall had only been together a few months, Liam couldn’t see them ever splitting up. Eventually, they would be married, so why not now? As Niall had said, the sooner, the better.

            “Mhm,” was all Liam said then, as he’d just been testing out the waters. Niall hummed happily as he finished the party list.

***

            Harry had neither confirmed nor denied whether he was coming or not, so that was still up in the air the day of the party. Louis had said he was coming, but it had been a rough morning, and Kelsey assured Liam that she was trying to drag him out of bed, but they would see. So just great.

            Liam was happy to see, though, that Harry did decide to come; a little late, but that was alright. It was a come and go kind of thing anyway. It was right after he arrived that Niall told Liam that Louis was on his way also. Perfect.

            Harry was standing talking to Zayn and Perrie when Louis got there, and he didn’t seem to notice Louis’s entrance, but Louis noticed him right away, doing a double take before his current fiancé put an arm on his shoulder blades and led him over to Liam to say a fake sweet ‘hello.’

            “Billiam, mate! How are you?!” Niall asked, jumping up to try to do a bro handshake with Billy, though the man just looked at him like he was nuts. Tobe fair, that was always how Billy looked at Niall.

            “Hello, Niall,” he said anyway, trying to be pleasant. Liam might have a type for ass holes, Niall being the exception, but Louis had a type for socially inept individuals with no exceptions.

            “Want to help me, grill, Billiam?” Niall asked, and Billy’s eye literally twitched at the second mention of the nickname Niall had given him. No one was quite sure why Niall had given it to him, but everyone was amused by it, except for Billy, though he sometimes tried to pretend.

            “Okay,” Billy agreed, knowing it was expected of him. “Louis, baby, will you be okay?”

            “I’ll be totally fine,” Louis assured him with a sweet smile; also fake, but Liam wasn’t going to mention that. Billy gave him a kiss on the cheek before heading off with Niall, who was talking in a chipper voice to the other man and probably driving him crazy already.

            “I hope it’s okay that we invited Harry,” Liam said, turning to grab his beer. “I just didn’t want to invite everyone except for-oh, okay, Liam, you’re talking to yourself.”

            Louis had already left Liam’s side, making a beeline for Harry, seeming determined. Harry still didn’t notice him until he moved out of someone else’s way and backed right into the other. Liam would probably have given money to see the look on Harry’s face when he turned around to apologize and saw Louis standing there, but he couldn’t. That was okay, though, because he saw Louis smile; a real smile, for once in a long time, and that was enough.

            The two talked, and Liam wasn’t sure how that was going. Zayn and Perrie looked quite uncomfortable, so he was afraid not great, but Louis didn’t seem upset, so maybe there was hope.

            They wouldn’t ever know because Billy glanced over, saw his fiancé talking to someone new and decided to swoop in and interrupt. Liam rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he went out to help his boyfriend.

            Harry stayed far away from Louis after that, and if it weren’t for Louis’s current partner, Liam would have subtly dragged him over and forced them to communicate somehow, but Billy wasn’t leaving Louis’s side, except for one time to go to the bathroom. Liam contemplated locking him in there but didn’t think that would turn out too well.

            The smile Louis had while he and Harry were talking had faded; his fake one back in place. Liam knew he was really trying to have a good time, but he just couldn’t. He didn’t know if it was just because he didn’t feel well or if there was something else bothering him, but he couldn’t ask and, soon, Billy had dragged him away to join a game of football some others had started up. Liam wanted to point out that Louis should really be resting, not running around kicking some ball, but he kept silent. Louis was an adult. He could take care of himself…Liam guessed.

            Zayn and Perrie had left a few minutes after they finished eating, so as soon as Billy dragged Louis away, Harry joined Niall and Liam again. It was really quite pleasant. Harry asked about the Paris trip and Liam went on and on about it to the point where he was probably boring Harry, but he gave no indication if that were true. A few times, Liam glanced over to the football game and saw Louis looking over, but he always turned away as soon he realized he was busted, except once, when he actually started to head over before Billy stopped him, his over-the-top concerned face in place before he led Louis to a nearby chair and made him sit down. Liam rolled his eyes, but luckily, Harry didn’t notice.

            Eventually, after Liam had given up on Harry and Louis reconciling anytime that day and had turned his back on the football game, Louis did finally return, wrapping his arms around Liam’s neck and placing a loud kiss on his cheek so Liam would know exactly who had snuck up behind him. Smiling, Liam turned his head to his friend.

            “Hello, again!”

            “Hi,” Louis said, “and bye. We’re getting ready to leave.”

            “Oh, okay,” Liam said, cursing the universe silently when he saw the outline of his friend’s fiancé still close behind him. “I’ll see you sometime before next Sunday, right?”

            Liam didn’t mean for work and Louis knew it, as his friend had been a bit clingy in recent days, but he couldn’t help it. When their time was so limited, every second counted.

            Louis began to answer, probably saying something like, ‘yes, Liam, of course, don’t be silly,’ but he was cut off by his fiancé’s voice.

            “I think I’ve met everyone here except you,” the man said, and everyone followed his gaze to see him staring directly at Harry. “We weren’t introduced earlier.”

            Nobody said anything for a good few moments. Nobody even seemed to be breathing, and Liam thought he wasn’t the only one who suddenly wished he could vanish into thin air for a little while.

            Finally, Louis cleared his throat.

            “Billy, that’s Harry; Harry, Billy.”

            Louis turned away again to continue his conversation with Liam, but it was Harry who interrupted that time.

            “Wait, Billy?” he asked, fairly loudly. “As in your ex-fiancé Billy?!”

            “How do you know about that?” Louis asked.

            “Kelsey told me about him. Louis, are you crazy?! Have you lost your damn mind?!”

            “Harry!” Louis exclaimed, straightening his posture, though his facial expression didn’t look angry, necessarily. “Can I talk to you out front, please?”

            Without waiting for a reply, Louis stormed away. Harry stood and followed, not even sparing a glance at anyone else.

            “He seems pleasant,” Billy spoke after nearly a whole minute of silence. Niall laughed a bit manically from his nerves.

            “Harry doesn’t tend to leave good first impressions, but he’s an alright guy, really,” Niall said once he’d gained control of himself.

            “Hmm,” Billy hummed. “Did he and Louis used to be a thing?”

            “Not really,” Liam answered quickly. “They went on a couple dates, but that’s it. It didn’t work out and well, Louis is with you now, and very happy!”

            The words sounded false, even to Liam’s ears, and he smiled nervously. Billy stared, unblinkingly.

            “So, Billiam, how excited are you for the wedding?!” Niall tried.

            “I’m going to take Louis home now,” Billy said, ignoring the question.

            “Yeah, you…you do that,” Niall said, not that Billy had waited for his permission or anything. Once he was out of sight, Niall turned his head to look at his boyfriend. “Do you need another drink?”

            “Most definitely.”

            Niall grabbed them both another beer each, but, unfortunately, they had barely started in on them before Harry was storming over to them again, face livid.

            “When is their wedding?!” he demanded. Neither boyfriend said anything, hoping the other one would step up. “When is it?!” Harry exclaimed.

            “A week from tomorrow,” Niall answered quietly, like he didn’t want Harry to hear. He had no such luck.

            “That soon?!”

            “Well, I mean, they don’t really know how much time they have to waste, do they?”

            “What does _that_ mean?!”

            _Oh shit._

Niall grew silent again and Liam glanced over to see his boyfriend fish-mouthing at the other man, apparently having assumed, like Liam, that Louis had told him everything. Clearly, they had assumed wrong.

            “Oh boy,” Liam said. 

            “Babe, give us a few minutes, please,” Niall said, patting Liam’s knee before setting down his beer and standing to lead Harry inside. Liam chugged his own beer before getting up and traveling from guest to guest, trying to distract himself from the awful conversation he knew was going on inside. True, Harry and Louis had only gone on a couple dates. It wasn’t like they ever had anything serious, but he was sure this wasn’t how either wanted things to end between them. He suddenly wondered if inviting Harry had been a mistake after all. Maybe he would have been better off not knowing. Or maybe now that he did know they could find another time to talk and at least make amends while they could; not that Liam expected them to pick up where they left off, of course. It was too late for that. But Louis had really liked Harry (he’d asked on multiple occasions how the other man was doing, even calling him the nickname-‘Curly’-that Louis had given him) and Liam knew he would at least want to be on good terms with him before anything serious happened.

            It seemed like hours later when Niall finally came back, though was really only a few short minutes, and the blonde wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s waist, giving him a small smile when Liam looked down at him, anxiety written clear on his own face.

            “How did it go?” Liam asked, leading Niall away from the small group he’d joined.

            “He was in denial, then he was really upset and then he stormed out. I’m sure he just needs time, though. I mean, it is pretty shocking and he had a lot of bombshells dropped on him today.”

            “Do you want to go check on him?”

            “I don’t think he’s headed home, to be honest, babe.”

            “Oh,” Liam said, and then realized what Niall was really saying. “Oh!”

            “Yeah, but…that’s a good thing, right?”

            “I hope so, but I really don’t know anymore. I don’t know anything anymore.”

            Niall gave Liam a soft kiss on the lips, massaging the back of his neck as he asked afterwards, “What do you say we politely kick everyone out and get wonderfully wasted all by ourselves?”

            “I say that’s the best idea I’ve heard in a while.”

***

            Niall had been right; Harry hadn’t gone home after leaving the party. He’d gone straight to Louis’s. All Louis would say was that they were ‘fine’ now. Liam wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but he did know that, whatever had happened had made a significant difference in Louis-in a good way. He went back to his old self while at the club, which he still worked at; smiling while on stage and coming out afterwards to talk to Liam and the guests, just like before he’d gotten sick.

            On Tuesday, Harry took Kelsey and Lily to the zoo and even got Louis to go too. According to Kelsey, Harry had also spent the night, further confusing Liam, but he didn’t really care about the dynamics of their relationship when he picked Louis up for work on Wednesday night and he was smiling and eating a bowl of cereal. (Getting him to eat anything those days was quite a challenge, as he really had no appetite and, even when he did, was too afraid to eat, as he tended to feel sick afterwards.)

            “Harry’s been good for you, yeah?” Liam said with his own smile as he watched Louis finish his meal and put his dishes in the sink.

            “It’s nothing to do with Harry,” Louis said. Liam knew that wasn’t true, but didn’t say as much.

            The car ride was silent, as they tended to be now. That was probably one of the hardest parts of this for Liam, as stupid as it sounded, because their car rides used to never be silent. The music used to always be blasting, the two having to shout to talk and be heard over the noise, and it had been that way ever since they’d started to drive. But Louis was too tired to do much talking with being so sick, and he almost constantly had a headache, so Liam never wanted to chance the radio.

            That was why Liam startled when Louis gave a loud groan and threw his head back against his headrest, letting out a long sigh afterwards.

            “Everything okay over there?” he asked.

            “Yes, everything is just fine,” Louis said.

            “Anything you want to talk about?” Liam prodded, knowing full well that when Louis got dramatic like that it was because he wanted something, but didn’t know how to bring it up.

            “I hate Harry,” Louis announced.

            “Again?”

            “Yes.”

            “Why now?”

            “Because I love him.”

            That hadn’t been what Liam was expecting him to say, and he took his eyes off the road for just a minute to glance at his friend, who was looking at the roof of his car like it was something very interesting.

            “You love him?” Liam said, a bit disbelieving.

            “Yes.”

            “Louis, you barely know the guy.”

            “I know enough. I know I love him.”

            For a moment, Liam was at a loss for words. He tried to lighten the mood.

            “Well, if you love him, you can’t really hate him, now can you?”

            “Oh, yes I can.”

            “That doesn’t even make sense, Lou.”

            “You wouldn’t understand, Liam,” Louis sighed. It was then that Liam realized that he wasn’t being purposely dramatic at all, but in an actual emotional conflict.

            “Alright, talk to me, man.”

            “I love him. I love him so much and it’s not fair because I can’t be with him. He probably doesn’t even love me anyway, but I’ll never know.”

            “Maybe if you talk to him…”

            “What good would that do, Liam? I’m getting married in less than a week and then I’m dying. There’s no time for a fairytale in between.”

            “Nothing in your life is a fairytale, Louis,” Liam said lightly, but then, more seriously, “but you deserve to be happy.”

            “Yeah, but so does he.”

            “I think you make him happy.”

            “I would, until it’s over.”

            “Together or not, it’s going to hurt when it’s over, Lou. If he loves you, he loves you whether you’re his or not.”

            “He doesn’t love me.”

            “He might.”

            “No, Liam, he doesn’t. I have to tell myself that, okay? He doesn’t love me.”

            Liam wanted to argue some more, because why would Louis even bring it up if he didn’t want to be told he was wrong?

            “I just needed to say it,” Louis said, as if he was reading Liam’s mind. “Thanks for listening.”

            “Feel better at least?” Liam asked.

            “No,” Louis said with a humorless laugh, covering his face and proceeding to make the small dying whale sound he tended to make when he was trying not to cry. Liam of course didn’t think it was a funny situation at all, it was very sad, actually, but he couldn’t help it. He snorted, because, seriously, what even was that noise?

            “Shut the fuck up,” Louis said tearfully, but Liam heard him laugh too.

            “Sorry,” Liam said. “Want me to pull over and we can hug it out?”

            “Don’t mock my pain.”

            “I would never!”

            “Just shut up and tell me how much Harry hates me.”

            “He hates your damn guts,” Liam played along. “You disgust him so much that I think he goes home every time you are ever in the near vicinity and takes an acid bath.”

            Louis snorted then and Liam beamed. So far, so good. Liam continued.

            “Don’t feel bad about yourself though, Lou. I think he was just so traumatized by the strip club experience that he turned straight. I mean, did you see how much he was hanging around Zayn and Perrie at the cook out? I think he wants Perrie.”

            Louis laughed again, finally uncovering his face and running a hand through his hair.

            “Harry and Perrie. How lovely.”

            “I can’t think of anything cuter.”

            Louis nodded, then shook his head, laughing again.

            “No, okay, that’s just weird.”

            “Not as weird as you and Harry though. That’s just gross.”

            “You’re the best, Li,” Louis sighed, leaning awkwardly across the seats to put his head in his friend’s lap and use the rest of the drive for a nap.

***

            Niall and Zayn came to the club that night and, later, Harry showed up as well. He was apparently unaware of the fact that Louis still worked there, and was very disapproving of the fact. Liam assured him that he was on the same page.

            When Louis found out that the man he’d previously confessed to loving was there, a cloud of emotions formed on his face and Liam at first thought he was going to lose it, but he composed himself quickly, though he was a bit cold to Harry. It wasn’t really fair, but Louis was doing what he had to do to protect himself, so Liam didn’t say a word.

            Though he had been hanging out with the group while he wasn’t onstage, now that Harry was here, Louis went to the back again. Everyone tried to pretend it wasn’t awkward after that.

            A few minutes after Louis had disappeared, one of the other strippers, Chet, came out and made his way behind the bar to tell Liam that Louis was requesting his assistance. Immediately worried, Liam asked if he was okay, but Chet didn’t know, so after leaving Niall temporarily in charge of the bar, Liam made his way backstage.

            “Lou?” he asked when he found his friend pacing around anxiously. “Everything alright?”

            “Liam, I need your help,” Louis said, stopping in his tracks and wringing his hands nervously.

            “Of course. What is it?” Liam asked, grabbing onto Louis’s arms gently to lead him to the couch, but Louis softly smacked him away.

            “Can we give Harry the birthday special?”

            “The birthday special?”

            “Yeah. A drink on the house and a free lap dance.”

            “I know what the birthday special is, I’m just confused as to why we are giving it to Harry. It’s not his birthday, is it?”

            “No, of course not. But I just…I want to give him a lap dance.”

            “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Liam asked, looking at his friend like he’d gone slightly nuts. He did look a bit flushed, so maybe he had a fever.

            “I’ve wanted to do it since the first time I saw him and if I don’t do it now I never will. Just...please, Liam? I can’t explain why I want to do it, but I do and this might be the closest I ever get to him, so…please?”

            How could Liam argue with that?

            “Alright, Lou, if you’re sure.”

***

            “So…?”

            “So what?”

            “How was it?”

            Louis had, indeed, given Harry a lap dance, and Harry seemed to enjoy it. Louis’s expression had been unreadable.

            “Oh, it was fine,” Louis said. “He told me he loved me.”

            “He what?!”

            “He told me he loved me.”

            “Well…what did you say?”

            “I said ‘shit.’”

            “You said ‘shit?’”

            “Yes, Liam. I said, ‘shit.’”

            “That’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard.”

            “I’m quite the charmer,” Louis said, taking out a cigarette and puffing on it. Liam wasn’t quite sure where he got the cigarette, or the lighter, as he’d quit smoking after getting custody of the girls, but, again, he said nothing. He was getting really good at holding his tongue.

***

            Kelsey’s birthday was that Friday and to celebrate, she, Liam and Louis were taking an overnight trip to London. Harry was also coming. Liam offered to stay behind and help Niall watch Lily if Louis wanted to try to get some alone time with Harry, but Louis had flatly asked if Liam was trying to send him to an earlier grave.

            The trip was wonderful, but it was sad too because it was then that Liam realized that Louis and Harry just seemed to fit. It was the happiest Liam had seen Louis for a long time; even before his life got flipped upside down, and it was the most relaxed and free he’d ever seen Harry. Harry was good with both Louis and the kids, and Louis knew just what to say to make Harry grin like he had not a care in the world. All in all, they really hadn’t spent much time together at, but that didn’t matter. They really, truly loved each other and it wasn’t fair that there was so much keeping them apart.

***

            “You guys, guess what?!” Kelsey exclaimed as she burst through the door to the girls’ hotel room the next morning as Liam was attempting to help finish packing up.

            “What?” Liam asked.

            “Louis is breaking up with Billy and marrying Harry instead!” the girl said, causing gasps and squeals from the other girls (who, the previous night, had spent a good deal of time discussing how cute Harry and Louis would be together once Liam had finally convinced the two men to take a night on the town to themselves.) Liam, however, gave the girl a disbelieving look.

            “Where did you get that idea, Kels?”

            “They just told me! Louis said he’s doing treatments to try and get better too!”

            “Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand something?”

            “No, they literally said those words.”

            Still not completely buying it, Liam walked over to the door that adjoined the girls’ bedroom with the guys’ and flung it open, busting Louis and Harry in the middle of a make-out session.

            “Holy shit,” Liam breathed while the girls erupted into giggles behind him.

            “Um…plot twist?” Louis said. Liam felt a bit dizzy.

***

            Liam still barely believed it as he drove himself and a couple of the girls home, but later, when Louis texted him letting him know the wedding had been canceled, was when it started to hit him. Louis wasn’t marrying Billy, which was great, of course, but if that part of what Kelsey had said was true, then the other part probably was too; Louis was going to do treatments. Louis was going to try to get better. Nothing was guaranteed, he knew that, but maybe Liam wouldn’t lose his best friend after all, at least not for a long, long time.

***

            “Did you ever think they’d get married before us?” Niall asked as he and Liam got into the former’s car the next day, heading off to the wedding chapel. No one had expected Louis and Harry to get married that soon, but Louis had ‘accidentally’ forgotten to let the ordained minister know that he’d called it off with Billy and so was using that opportunity to marry Harry instead.

            “Never,” Liam told his boyfriend.

            “It’s quite a tragedy.”

            “Hmm,” Liam hummed, fighting off his smile. Little did Niall know, he would be receiving his own proposal in just a few days’ time.

            Wanting their Paris trip to be perfect, Niall had planned out the entire thing beforehand, with some help from Liam, but many things he’d wanted to keep a surprise. Liam didn’t mind, but felt a little bad because it was Niall’s vacation too. He wanted to show him how much he loved and cared for him as well, so he had planned a little surprise of his own.

            He did it on their third day there, in front of the wall of ‘I love yous,’ an art piece that had the sentence ‘I love you’ written in hundreds of languages.

            “I’m butchering all of these, aren’t I?” Niall said with a laugh at himself as he attempted to recite the phrase in what Liam thought might be Russian, but couldn’t be one hundred percent sure.

            “I wouldn’t know,” Liam said, smiling and placing a kiss on his boyfriend’s lips and hoping he was playing off the fact that he was so nervous he kind of wanted to puke. Apparently he succeeded because Niall just smiled.

            “Alright, your turn. You try one.”

            “Je t’aime. Tue es l’amour de ma vie. Veux-tu m’epouser?”

            “That was so hot,” Niall said, pulling gently on Liam’s shirt to get him to give him a kiss. “Alright, so I know that was French, and I got the ‘I love you,’ but what was the rest?”

            “You are the love of my life,” Liam explained.

            “Aww, babe!”

            Liam got another kiss for that one.

            “But, also, there was one more part; a question.”

            “Yeah? What was the question?”

            “Will you marry me?”

            The smile stayed on Niall’s face, but he tilted his head and furrowed his brow, confused as to if Liam was just trying to show off his French skills or was legitimately asking a question.

            Liam’s heart was pounding hard and he feared that if he were any closer to the ground he might completely black out, but he took a chance and got on one knee anyway, reaching into his pocket to pull out the pair of promise rings he’d bought for the both of them, should Niall say yes.

            “I love you,” he said, and he was still coherent (and Niall was only a little blurry) so he thought it was going exceptionally well. “I’m in love with you. And you are the love of my life; my one and only. Will you marry me?”

            Niall’s mouth was slagging, but he nodded vigorously, tugging on Liam’s hand and helping him up before wrapping his arms tight around his middle.

            “I think that’s the first time you’ve ever been completely speechless,” Liam teased after a moment, once his heart rate started slowing down and he no longer felt on the verge of collapsing. Niall laughed, pulling away to examine the rings Liam had bought. He quickly found the larger one and slipped it on his fiancé’s finger.

            “I love you,” he said as Liam took that time to put Niall’s ring on him.

            “I love you too,” Liam said.

            After that, they continued attempting to try to say the sentence in all of the languages written on the board because, after all, they could never really say it enough.


End file.
